Wednesday, 21 March 2007

Civilization III Conquests/Gold "Code 28 Error" FIXED

If you found this, you're probably having the same problem I've just had, installing Civilization 3 with the Conquests update, the latest patches, and then being unable to play it because of an error message: "Error loading font. Code 28".

I've read many solutions to this problem, and the most ridiculous one, and the "official" one put forward by Atari/Infrogrammes is to delete all Lucida Sans font files from your Windows/Fonts folder! Unbelievable that this could ever be considered a "solution".

Update: This solution works with Civilization 3 GOLD, too! (Thanks to 'gravegoul' for the tip!)

The REAL solution to the Civ3 Code 28 error is this:

Next, go into the Conquests\ folder and look for a file named LSANS.FOT (notLSANS.TTF!)

Rename the file LSANS.FOT to _LSANS.FOT (or indeed, anything you like, so long as it isn't LSANS.FOT!)

You can now play Civ 3 Conquests, on ME, XP, Vista, Windows 7, whatever!

If you're wondering what the problem was, here's an explanation: Within the LSANS.FOT file is instructions for Civilization to load the LSANS.TTF (the LucidaSans font file) from "C:\BreakAway\Civ3\Conquests\LSANS.TTF", and if the file isn't there, the game won't load. Of course, this isn't even the default path for the game, so why Breakaway games should include this file with their patch is beyond me. But they did.

By removing the LSANS.FOT file (or by simply renaming it) the game simply looks for the font file elsewhere, and finds it!

I wanted to post this on a Civ3 forum somewhere, but I couldn't find an active thread about the problem, so at least here it should be here for good. Hope it helps somebody!

BONUS!

Play Civilization 3 in widescreen/high-resolution

To play Civ III in your monitor's native resolution (so the game looks better) simply add the following line to the bottom of your Conquest.ini file:KeepRes=1

Where do you find your conquest.ini file? If you're on XP or running Vista/Windows 7 without UAC enabled, then you'll find it in your Civilization III folder (see above). If you're running Vista/Windows 7 with UAC enabled (which you should be, if you're using those operating systems) you'll find it in:C:\Users\[YOUR USERNAME]\AppData\Local\VirtualStore\Program Files\Infogrames Interactive\Civilization III\Conquests

215 comments:

Thanks, indeed!!!! i was worried i was gonna have to call and yell at someone at Atari, Firaxis or Bill Gates for this new Windows Vista. my Civ3 was working fine until i bought a new laptop with Vista. but, to be fair, other people with other versions of Windows have been having the same problem, and, as you say, providing very insane solutions.

Hey, I give you 100 Purple vorpal bunnies for this! I went to offical sites and found NOTHING about Error 28 (or a troubleshooting section to begin with) I was getting pissed. I typed 'The Civilization III error 28 and this was the first site on the list. GO YOU!! :D

Very good, perfect solution.In my case, the .fot file is there again when I exit Civ3.So I made a simpel run.bat file, with the comment:-----------------del lsans.fotcivilization3.exe-----------------And that's it, good to go.

Just like the other comment, on the net you'll find absolutely NOTHING on this problem.But there are so many civ players out there, how come this problem is not widely documented?

Thanks so much - now my life goes back to wasting hours playing Civ instead of doing something useful; the wife is eternally grateful to you that she doesn't have to see my face until Spring returns...

I wonder if you could tell me how to fix the error I'm getting. I'm new to making custom scenarios. I keep getting this error when trying to play the scenario: "Error Reading File / Missing entry in "Scenarios/.../conquests/Mesoamerica/text/Pedialcons.txt." :AMIMNAME_ / The game will now exit." I kinda get what that means, but have no idea what to do about it. HELP!!!

what I mean is that I can't even load the game at all... I went into my program files, then Atari, then Civ 3, then conguest, and then I tried to rename the file.... I think I re-named it succuesfully, because the name changed, but I still get the same error

I firgured it out! The problem I was having was that when I changed the LSANS.FOT the changed didn't keep... that is as soon as I changed it - it went back to its' orginal setting.... so I had to change the control panel settings... anyways thanks for the help and the fix!

To play Civilization 3 Conquests on Windows Vista I renamed the file LSANS.FOT to _LSANS.FOT. During playing I saved some games. I tried to delete games, but I don't know how to do that. The directory "Saves" is empty. Can you help me?

Thank you so much! I installed and uninstalled that game three time before I saw your fix!!! There are so many bogus "fixes" out on the web. Now I just have to figure out what is happening with my iPOD!

Thanks a ton for getting me this far, but I still have a problem. It now will launch to the main screen, but no text is displayed, as if it didn't find the font it needed to. I might just create folders so that the path in LSANS.fot actually leads to the file, but hopefully I won't need to.

Thanks for posting this! I was about to load CIV 3 with Conquests on my new VISTA-based laptop, but thought I'd look to see if there were any known bugs or problems. I am really glad that I found your solution (in a google search, you came up second) Rick in Acworth, GA

Good Deal man!!! I've spent a while lookng for a fix to the problem and it took me 2 minutes afer i found your blog. Found lots of stff aluding to what you said but i don't know enough to put it all together. Needed it spelled out like you did. THanks Man!!

Hello - glad you're someone who knows computers AND Civ III. I want to delete some saved games on Vista - on XP I could get all the way to the .sav files on the C-drive. Now I can't. Any suggestions? Thanks - Pastor Phil

Hello Johnny - thanks for responding. I mean I can't open the file tree far enough to get to the .sav files. On XP I could do that - I could get to the .sav files and delete the ones I didn't want. Now on my Vista I get as far as the CivIII.exe file icon - but I can't get past that icon - I click open and it wants to play the game. And I don't see an "explore" option.

Yesterday I was working on an HP with an nVidia card and your solution worked brilliantly. I didn't like the washed out colours and now I loaded C3C into a Toshiba with an ATI card. The error code 28 was gone but now I have an error code 13???

Was looking around for some answers and only finding weird and crazy solutions, everything from reinstalling drivers to changing mouse. Then found this and solved the problem in 30 seconds.So a big thanks to you =D

i am so sorry...it did work for me...i renamed the wrong file...the one in the main folder not the conquers folder...thank you so much and i do appolagise for wasting your time...thanks again you were a great help

Alphabetti Spaghetti - You rule, thanks for the quick and easy fix. My husband loves this game and we just bought a new computer with VISTA need I say more and as you already know Civ Games need like a billion pacthes and what not to work on any new MS operating system. I searched for hours and then today I stumble on this and all I can say is, You rule- Thanks- :):):)

Hey i dont know if my problem is same or not but seems like you are the right person to ask help from ....

when i click on civ3.exe to start the game ... my monitors goes blank and the monitor light blinks ... . i tried enabling task manager but to no avail the onli solution is to restart and forget about the game ..

Thanks for your advice on the lSANS.FOT advice. I'm a learning disabled senior citizen. It took me 10 years to get grade 8 and then i dropped out to join the army. I don't know how many times that you have saved my butt with the error 28 for me. I am nothing without my civ3 conquests. I must have gone to your site to find the cure about 30 times. Like every time I fix it I forget how to fix it again and have to go through the learning curve again and again. I hope that the computers of the future continue to play my conquests for me. I never play online. Just play at the basic level until I have almost conquered the whole world without having to be on a budget. God Bless YOU and YOURS Thanks again for all your help Cliff W Smith

This fix makes sense, and I was really excited when I found it, but with all my scouring of the Civ 3 folders (it seems that there are more than one, one under Atari and one under Infograms, possibly more I am missing?) I cannot find anything beyond the basic files in any of these folders: an uninstall file, a readme file, the installation guide, this thing called "Civ3 Conquests Editor" which doesn't seem to have the ability to edit the font for the program, a help for that, and then the ability to run the game. I am on Windows 7 on an administrator account. Where else should I look to find the font file?

It doesn't seem to work for me...I went to the folder, renamed it, and nothing happened...is there another way?I also restarted the computer, deleted the file, and renamed the filoe to about 8 different things..PLEASE HELP!!!!!This is an acer computer with civ gold and conquests...I believe windows 7

Hi anonymous, as you can see this fix has worked for everyone for the past two and half years.... Are you sure that, a) You were getting the message "Error: Code 28", b) You changed the right file in the right folder and c) You still got "Error: Code 28" when you ran the game?

You are a life saver. My daughter loves Civ III and she wanted it installed on her laptop we got her for Christmas. It was frustrating to get the font error. Your fix worked perfectly and she is off and running.

PLEASE can anyone help. Playing on XP I had problem deleting the old saved games but now on Vista (thanks for that fix) I cant find a saved games folder or anything like it so I cant delete the old games.

I have done searches for the games name and searches for *.sav but no joy. I need help please

Hi,Thank you for this post. Am trying to do the second fix (for resolution) for my Civ3 Gold (I have Windows 7). I cannot seem to find the Conquests.ini file. There IS a file named civ3.ini.I am not sure what UAC is and (if) I have that enabled or not (why should I do that anyway?). Your help is much appreciated.

Hey Joe from Colorado, sorry for the long delay in replying. I'm not sure why you're finding it so hard to find the Conquests.ini? If you don't have Conquests installed, try adding the line to the civ3.ini instead?